Most of the CBS audience watching the end of the Buffalo Bills vs. Detroit Lions game on Thanksgiving got to see Josh Allen lead his team quickly down the field in the closing seconds before Tyler Bass hit a 45-yard field goal to seal the victory and continue Detroit’s ongoing string of Turkey Day disappointments.
Tyler Bass connects from 45 yards out to ice the Bills' win over the Lions on Thanksgiving.
No announcer's jinx on this one, Jim Nantz! pic.twitter.com/7BIzHC0XLs
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 24, 2022
That was not the case for those watching on KHOU, the CBS affiliate in the Houston market. With 23 seconds left in the game, they cut away to inform viewers about a tornado warning in the area. Since they did not use picture-in-picture or split screen or a scrolling bar along the bottom of the screen, viewers missed the game-winning field goal, leading to some disappointment for those who had watched the entire game up until that point.
Many KHOU viewers in Houston were not pleased when the CBS affiliate cut away from the finish of the Bills-Lions game for a tornado warning. pic.twitter.com/Rx0wOQ3nmd
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 24, 2022
Audiences appeared to be torn based on the social media reaction. On one hand, a tornado warning certainly warrants cutting into an NFL game in order to educate viewers about potentially dangerous weather situations. Local TV stations have a care of duty to warn viewers about situations where their lives could be imperiled.
On the other hand, many locals felt that the warning didn’t rise to the occasion of cutting away from the game entirely, especially when they could have put the remainder of the game in the corner of the screen. At the very least, while many understood the need to cut to a tornado warning, they would have appreciated some kind of split-screen option.
Is splitting the screen not an option @khou? Ending of the season and we are getting a meteorology class. pic.twitter.com/7epZEIpTXc
— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) November 24, 2022
We missed the ending to a good game because of KHOU pic.twitter.com/mJZ8pClWxe
— Figgy Fig (@TheFiggyFig) November 24, 2022
Number of “lives saved” by Houstonians who were *just* about to turn off the game and go outside for a game of Thanksgiving frisbee without knowing a tornado might be outside: 0. https://t.co/KWhCMAKNMu
— Steve Czaban (@czabe) November 24, 2022
Weather and safety is more important than anything, period.
But could we at least have gotten a little split screen action? 😂😂 https://t.co/eDPdSdCANg
— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) November 24, 2022
As a former newscast director, stations are legally required to take air for tornado warnings if capable, whether a tornado is on the ground or not. I will say they should have gone split screen though. We had to do so in 2019 during the Masters that Tiger Woods won (see below). https://t.co/RHP9ncpnGl pic.twitter.com/NkRfjod0KQ
— Jack Patterson (@JPattersonTV) November 24, 2022
Stations are legally required to do this in these situations.
It sucks, but that is literally their job. https://t.co/BwhtSBfopf
— Patrick Cunningham (@pmc3_83) November 24, 2022
For the three or four of you who are like “this is important” and “you’re better than this” on my KHOU tornado warning complaint:
A. All I ask for is a split screen
B. If no split screen give us a brief full screen then a ticker crawl
C. Get bent— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) November 24, 2022
KHOU certainly heard the complaints and meteorologist Tim Pandajis even took to Twitter to explain why they decided to cut into the game.
My apologies folks but I have a responsibility to get on the air and stay on the air through the duration of a tornado warning.
— Tim Pandajis (@TimPandajis) November 24, 2022
“My apologies folks but I have a responsibility to get on the air and stay on the air through the duration of a tornado warning,” wrote Pandajis.
As many others in the television industry noted, KHOU has an obligation to share this news with its audience. But if they could figure out how to go picture-in-picture next time, they might save themselves from a lot of headaches and mean tweets.
